Molycorp Buys European Rare Earths Facility

8:47 AM MDT | April 5, 2011 | Vincent Valk

Molycorp (Greenwood Village, CO) has purchased a 90% stake in AS Silmet (Tallinn, Estonia), which owns and operates a rare earths production facility at Sillamae, Estonia, for $89 million. The deal gives Molycorp control of one of only two rare earths production facilities in Europe. Going forward, AS Silmet’s plant will use raw material from Molycorp’s Mountain Pass, CA mine. The plant currently sources material from China, the source of over 95% of the world’s rare earths. The deal will double Molycorp’s rare earths production capacity...